March 28, 2024

East Union’s Harper a first-time medalist

Nodaway Valley and Mount Ayr girls find small successes at state

Image 1 of 4

DES MOINES — For the second time in the race, Emma Harper found herself boxed in.

While it wasn’t ideal for the time, the East Union 800 runner knew she could close out a mid-distance race as well as anyone in the state.

So when Harper made her move to the outside with around 300 meters to go, she felt the effects of her years of training kick in.

“Going into that straightaway after that second lap I got boxed in again, which hurt me because that’s usually where I kick it in,” Harper said. “Mostly what I ended up having to do was get out almost to (lane) three to get out, which is a bummer, I hate getting out that far, but have to do it sometimes.”

Coming down the final 200 after passing the Drake Stadium video board in the far corner of the stadium, Harper kicked into gear.

“I remember running down to the 200 and saying ‘Emma, this is the last 200 you’re ever going to run in a race. You better get going. Give it everything you’ve got.’ So right here I started kicking as hard as I could,” Harper said. “One hundred (meters), I just found that second gear. Every runner has a second gear. You just have to find it.”

Find it she did. Harper passed several runners in her last-ditch gallop down the straightway, passing Logan-Magnolia’s Violet

Lapke and Kylie Morrison in the last 20-30 meters to earn third place in a personal record time of 2:22.40.

The performance was a long time coming from Harper, who experienced persistent issues from anemia going back past last fall. The issues carried throughout much of cross country season before the condition was diagnosed.

To be back at full-strength and to run the best race of her career at the grandest stage was an incredible accomplishment.

“I remember as a freshman looking at all the medalists and thinking I could never do that,” Harper said. “To actually be one is absolutely amazing feeling. I feel very accomplished and proud of myself and all of my supporters I’ve had. I couldn’t do with without them.”

Harper also represented the Eagles in the fourth-place winning distance medley unit.

Olivia Eckels and Mara Weis started off strong in the first two legs.

The handoff itself was flawless.

“It was perfect. We’ve done it so many times,” Weis said. “I knew she was coming in hot so I took out a lot quicker than I was used to. It’s the fastest I’ve ever come off that first turn I think because of all the adrenaline and everything.”

Sidney McFee took the third leg handoff for the 400 meter portion better than most of her attempts this season. Typically, McFee leaves a step or two to early.

“Normally Liv always is on this turn so when I get tired she always yells ‘You’re not tired’ and normally I just look at her like, ‘yeah I am,’ but today I was like ‘you’re right, I’m not tired,’ although I get tired,” McFee said with a laugh.

Harper brought home the relay, passing several runners in the 800 meter portion of the race, including Nodaway Valley’s Reagan Weinheimer to finish in a time of 4:21.65.

The Eagles earned 22nd place at the meet with 11 points as a squad.

The Eagles also posted a 19th-place finish from Eckels in the 100 hurdles Friday.

Wolverines succeed in distance medley

Nodaway Valley took sixth in the distance medley, with the group of Paige McElfish, Sadie Marnin, Rachel Scheel and Weinheimer.

McElfish was held in her blocks in the first leg for what felt like an eternity to the Wolverine senior. But she got out quick and handed off to Marnin with both in stride. Marnin shot out of the turn, sprinting like a rocket down the home stretch to Rachel Scheel, who ran a 60-second flat 400.

“I felt fast. I gave it my all. It felt really comfortable being back,” Marnin said.

Weinheimer took the last leg, and despite being overtaken by Harper, ran well.

“It was a great experience for my first time and I went really hard my first lap and I kind of lost it in my last 200 but I think I did pretty well,” Weinheimer said.

The Wolverine girls also took 18th in the sprint medley Saturday in a time of 1:56.88 and 23rd in the 4x200 relay.

The Nodaway Valley girls took 49th as a team with three team points.

Raiderettes medal three

Alyssa Johnson in the 100 hurdles and Bailey Anderson in the 400 meter dash and MacKenzie Shields in the high jump were the Mount Ayr girls to bring home team points, as the Raiderettes earned 3.5 team points from the three.

Johnson’s time of 16.60 in the finals was good for seventh place. It wasn’t a personal best, but the junior was happy to place.

“It’s not necessarily my best, but I feel like considering the weather, I competed to the best of my abilities. It’s better than last year,” Johnson said.

Shields was pleasntly surprised to find out her best leap of 5-0 on Friday earned her eighth place. She felt far different in her second appearance at state, back from a year ago.

“Last year I came up here really super nervous,” Shields said. “This year I was more excited than nervous.”

Going forward, Shields will continue to work on extending her vertical and improving her kick to reach closer to the school record of 5-4.

Anderson’s eighth-place finish in the 400 meter dash in a time of 1:01.00 was several tenths of a second better than the year prior, as the junior improved upon her 10th-place finish from a year ago. Her goal coming in was to place.

“I know that everybody is going to really push and it’s going to be a really fast track here,” Anderson said. “I just have the same mindset, I’m just going to have to push like everybody else here and so I did that and I was pretty happy with what I got.”

Anderson also competed as the anchor leg in the Raiderettes’ 13th-place finish in the 4x400 prelims Friday and 10th-place sprint medley relay ran Saturday.

The Raiderettes took 24th in the 4x200 relay.

High jump — 1. Alyssa Staudt, Rockford, 5-2; 8. MacKenzie Shields, 5-0.

Distance medley relay — 1. Maple Valley-A-O, 4:12.28; 4. East Union, (Olivia Eckels, Mara Weis, Sidney McFee, Emma Harper), 4:21.65; 6. Nodaway Valley, (Paige McElfish, Sadie Marnin, Rachel Scheel, Reagan Weinheimer) 4:24.80.

100 meter hurdles prelims — 8. Alyssa Johnson, Mount Ayr, 16.55; 19. Olivia Eckels, East Union, 16.99, DNQ for finals. Finals — 1. Autum Barthelman, Sigourney, 15.26; 7. Alyssa Johnson, Mount Ayr, 16.60.

4x200 — 1. Danville, 1:47.16; 23. Nodaway Valley, (Paige McElfish, Riley Lonsdale, Rachel Scheel, Sadie Marnin), 1:53.49; 24. Mount Ayr, (Ryann Martin, Sadie Frost, Caylie Hickman, Keirston Klommhaus), 1:54.29.

4x400 meter relay prelims — 13. Mount Ayr, (Keirston Klommhaus, Ryann Martin, Samantha Stewart, Bailey Anderson), 4:17.75. Finals — 1. Maple Valley-A-O, 4:04.00

Sprint medley relay — 1. Danville, 1:51.50; 18. Nodaway Valley, (Sami Harris, Sadie Marnin, Paige McElfish, Rachel Scheel), 1:56.88.

800 meter run — 1. Janette Schraft, East Mills, 2:19.84; 3. Emma Harper, East Union, 2:22.40; 16. Reagan Weinheimer, Nodaway Valley, 2:28.78

Class 1A team scores —1. Sigourney 48, 2. Maple Valley-A-O 46, 3. Danville 45.5, 4. East Mills 36, 5. Pekin 34, 22. East Union 11, 48. Mount Ayr 3.5 49. Nodaway Valley 3.

Class 2A team scores — 1. Cascade 65, 2. Mid-Prairie 58, 3. Pocahontas Area 44, 4. Monticello 42, 5. Madrid 34, 26. Clarke 9, 35. Central Decatur 6, 45. Shenandoah 3.

Class 3A team scores — 1. Assumption 93, 2. Pella 77, 3. Dubuque Wahlert 49, 4. Decorah 47, 5. Benton 44, 24. Creston 10, 19. Harlan 13, 27. Winterset 8. 35. Denison-Schleswig, 5.5.

Class 4A team scores — 1. Waukee 116, 2. Iowa City West 89, 3. Southeast Polk 56, 4. Linn-Mar 44, 5. Cedar Falls 41, 26. Lewis Central 6.33.